GolfNow Director Richard Barker (right) and International Marketing Manager Andrew Hollywood present the donation of £20,000 for the Golf Foundation

Leading online tee-time booking provider Teeofftimes.co.uk powered by GolfNow.com has reached its fundraising target of £20,000 in support of the Golf Foundation and junior grass roots golf.

The team at Teeofftimes.co.uk set itself the ambitious target for 2015 after the previous year raising just under £9,000 for the Golf Foundation, the charity that makes golf and its benefits more accessible to young people and helps them to ‘Start, Learn and Stay’ in the sport.

The online tee-time booking specialist had declared a wish to support the work of the Golf Foundation, which through its ‘HSBC Golf Roots’ initiative forges player pathways from school to club golf, creating more than 3,600 new junior members last year, while working with national partners to increase junior member retention levels.

Selected golf clubs were asked to donate funds raised from the sale of four golf course green fees, collected by the Teeofftimes.co.uk team. The company also donated all of the commission from the sale of these tee times directly to the charity.

This fundraising method has been popular with golf clubs, who are customers of the Teeofftimes.co.uk brand, and the company matched a portion of the funds raised to reach the £20,000 target.

Key supporters of the campaign included three of the most respected golf club venue groups, De Vere Venues, Macdonald Hotels & Resorts and Leaderboard Golf.

Richard Barker, Director for Teeofftimes.co.uk, said: “Our team is thrilled to have secured this £20,000 donation for the Golf Foundation, and are sure this will have a great impact on junior golf at the grass roots and help more young people to get a start in this wonderful sport. This is part of our company wide commitment to grow the game of golf.

“The Golf Foundation has a strategy that clearly works in offering young people from all backgrounds golfing opportunities and which helps retain them in the sport going forwards, which is a challenge to the whole golf industry.

“We all need to support the next generation of players for the good of the game. This company and our customers, the golf club venue groups and individual golf clubs, understand the crucial importance of this, and we’d like to thank all our customers for their help this year.”

Brendon Pyle, Chief Executive of the Golf Foundation, said: “When Richard Barker and his team said they wanted to contribute towards our work we were delighted. From the first day we got a clear sense that Teeofftimes.co.uk is one of those golf companies which really cares about young golfers and, following its success in the industry, wishes to ‘put something back’ into the game. All of the money raised will be wisely invested in our mission of helping young people to enjoy the benefits of golf.

“The team at Teeofftimes.co.uk should be rightly proud of this achievement and it’s also great that we are talking together about creating a similar fundraising campaign for 2016.”

Brendon added: “I’d also like to thank one of our Trustees, Di Horsley, who made the suggestion about clubs donating tee times in the first instance as a way of fundraising for the Golf Foundation. Thanks to Teeofftimes.co.uk in bringing the idea to fruition, we have seen this substantial amount of fundraising from the scheme. Through HSBC Golf Roots, £29,000 equates to 12,000 young people being introduced to the sport and 3,000 experiencing golf at a golf club.”

Golf clubs wishing to find out more about the company’s services can contact Richard Barker, Director, Teeofftimes.co.uk on 07793 775207, or email Richard.barker@nbcuni.com